1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is concerned with a physical training accessory, and more specifically it is concerned with an accessory comprising an air-resistance member, one of which is usable on each arm of a wearer in order to deliberately increase air resistance to movements of the user's arms.
2. Description of Related Art
During the past decade, there has been an explosion of interest in physical activity as both a pastime and a means of acquiring and maintaining good health. Much of the current interest in exercise and other similar activities is based on the recent findings that correlate longevity with active lifestyles. Pursuant to this increased awareness, a corresponding increase in the variety of exercise activities has spawned a plethora of new businesses focused on servicing the needs of this new market.
In the past, a person training to attain a physical standard was required to run, walk, pedal, or otherwise move over a certain distance within a certain time period. Unfortunately, many persons in training are restricted by the limits of the training area. For example, a certain body of water or a certain running track may be all that is available for the user. A training device which permits the user to utilize a restricted training area and yet obtain the necessary exercise would be a great advance in the art of athletics.
It is a known expedient when conducting physical training to carry weights, in order to increase the effort required to carry out a particular physical movement or ground locomotion (e.g., running) and thereby enhance increases in the strength and endurance of the user. For example, it is known to wear wrist and/or ankle weights or to carry weights in the hands or in special vest pockets during running or jogging in order to increase the effort required.
The use of such weights has certain disadvantages in that, particularly in the case of long distance runners, the weights tend to stress the joints of the user. Also, the weights are localized at a particular part of the body, usually the ankles or the wrists or both, and tend to tire and stress particular muscles and joints of the user. Further, if they are not to be abandoned, the weights must be carried by the user (or someone else) even when a point is reached, for example, on the return leg of a run, at which time the weights may no longer be desired.
It is also a known expedient in the art to provide wind-sail appliances which will increase the air resistance acting upon the wearer either during ground locomotion such as skiing or ice-skating, or upon falling or jumping so that the device acts in the manner of a parachute. Each of these known prior art expedients requires that the wearer extend his or her arms in order to deploy the parachute or sail-like member.
The wind-sail devices of the prior art have the disadvantage that the wearer is constrained to maintain his or her arms in an extended position, which not only prevents the adoption of a natural arm movement and positioning for exercises such as running skating or skiing, but further requires the arms to remain extended and support the wind resistance offered by the sail, thereby limiting the duration of use of the device, inasmuch as the arms will undoubtedly become tired long before the useful or desired duration of the training period is reached.
One patentee discloses a training device comprising a rigid frame adapted to be fitted over the shoulders of the wearer, with this frame carrying an air foil which may comprise a fabric covering, and being further secured to the wearer by a belt about the wearer's waist. In one embodiment, the airfoil or sail is optional and the rigid frame, which has handles mounted on it, is sufficiently flexible so that the wearer, by maintaining his or her arms extended, may use the frame as an arm exerciser while running. Such a device is not collapsible, i.e., the airfoil is frame-mounted and therefore is not gatherable, and suffers a disadvantage similar to that of the use of weights. Also, the device must be transported even when it is no longer desired to have to overcome the added wind resistance provided by the device, and the weight of the frame must be borne at all times and, even during training, the weight is concentrated on the shoulders and at the waist.
The present invention advantageously provides a physical training accessory which provides significant advantages over these other devices, for without being burdensome to carry or maintain, it has the capability of increasing air resistance to ground locomotion by the wearer, thereby enhancing his or her training. Quite desirably, my device is lightweight and gatherable, and overcomes the stated disadvantages of prior devices such as the need to use weights, the bulkiness of such prior art devices, and the need in many instances to maintain the user's arms in an extended position for a protracted length of time.